Closed area on Ark.? Options

[traddoerr]

I was just talking to a gentleman about the Ark. river North of Beuna vista and they said that is has been closed by the BLM for any prospecting from the GPAA claims down to jump rock, has any one else heard this as well, I haven't had the chance to call the local office yet to confirm. I have fished spots along that stretch but was going to try a little prospecting there this year as well.

[traddoerr]

I have talked with John Morrey/Megan ? of the FS district of leadville and, They did confirm that they have closed any and all prospecting on a 40acre section of land that borders the Ark. river between GPAA claims and elephant rock.

There reason for this is the abuse of the area by two groups, miners/rafters. Mr. Morrey told me that there is a fine line between recreational panning and a miner, were the recreationalist is doing it as a hobby/personal and a miner for profit, he said it is to complicated to seperate the two so they decided to close it all together, also between the prospectors and the rafters staying to long on the NF area it has created issues between users and degrading the area. And with this area being withdrawn it gave them the authority to close it to prospectiong and will be posting signs for this area very soon, and letting people know that they can't camp longer than the 14 days in the 40acre area.

He also mentioned that they will be talking to the BLM about the area adjasent to this spot being closed as well , but the BLM told me that they wouldn't consider closing any areas to prospecting (yet?).

Now I know it is only 40acres but will this set a standard for other withdrawn areas with-in the NF systems by other departments of the FS, hope not.

I hope no one misunderstands what I'm doing other than letting every one know of these changes and possiblity's as I would of hated to have planned a trip to that spot to find out it was no longer useable for certain things, and hope this doesn't lead to other possible closures, I hate getting info by hear say. Guess I'll just keep fishing there as the fishing can be great there! and pan/prospect on the BLM else were.

[Woody]

Thanks for passing this information along traddoerr. I myself have not panned/dredged on the Arkansas since the 90s but I’m sure someone out there can really benefit from this information. To me that’s what makes this site special, People networking together and sharing information that might assist another person. Far too often a person recognizes worth in terms of Monatery amount and misses the real value in life. City minded folks mostly I guess.” If it does not have a dead president attached to it then it is not worth much to them. “Any way, Thanks for the leg work, Woody.